FileMaker releases Bento 4 with label printing, easier sharing

Bento, the database application for Mac OS X, was updated to version 4 on Wednesday, adding new features such as the ability to print labels, export libraries with data, add voice memos and share more easily.

Bento 4 for Mac is now available for Mac for $29 with a $20 instant upgrade rebate for owners of previous versions. The software can also be purchased from the Mac App Store at its regular price of $49.99, and a family pack of five licenses costs $99.

Bento 4 adds the ability to print labels, export libraries with data, automatically add geographical locations to records, and to lock down forms. FileMaker Inc., a software subsidiary of Apple, declared that Bento 4 is the next major step for the personal database software.

"People just love the way Bento helps them organize their lives -- especially their work tasks like managing contacts and tracking projects," said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services for FileMaker, Inc. "We've enhanced the entire product line: Bento for Mac, Bento for iPad, and Bento for iPhone to provide you with a major productivity boost at your desk and when youre on the go."

Along with the release of Bento 4, Bento 1.1 has also been issued for the iPhone and iPad. Each application costs $4.99, and has been updated with the ability to record voice memos and sync iCal tasks. The latest version also has improved multitasking, and support for the iPhone 4 retina display.

For the first time ever, Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad will be
available in multiple languages including: Japanese, French, German,
Italian, Spanish, and Dutch.

Bento 4 for Mac adds the ability to create custom labels, or choose from more than 250 ready-to-use Avery and Dymo label formats for mailing labels, inventory tags, name badges, file folders and many other uses. Labels can be customized with information from your database and with images.

Sharing databases has also been made easier using Bento 4. Users can now export Bento libraries populated with data and share these with other users, and sending a complete library to another Bento user is as easy as emailing a file. Users can also share ideas by sending custom Bento templates directly to the Bento Template Exchange from within Bento 4. The Bento Template Exchange features over 800 free downloadable templates that bring to life the huge variety of uses for Bento.

Bento 4 is also said to be faster and easier to use. With faster launch times, the new version allows users to lock forms to prevent unwanted changes to a layout, easily switch from Table view to Form view, search by date ranges, and automatically create media fields.

Bento 4 will automatically capture locations where activities occur. With the addition of a new location field type, the software will automatically log a user's exact location using Wi-Fi, GPS, or cell tower triangulation, depending on which Mac or iOS device they may be using when entering or modifying a record. Automatic location fields can record the location of site inspections, log customer visits, track travel sites, or capture survey locations.

Bento 4 for Mac is available in English, French, Italian, German,
Spanish, Dutch and Japanese.

Personally, I'd like to see OSX gain a built-in database, that would allow many apps to share information in a secured way. This would also increase ownership of our data, since we'd only need a tool for reading the database, rather than being reliant on the favor and existence of good but small software companies such as CulturedCode and the Omni Group.

It would also allow small developers to provide features like spotlight, encryption, archiving, sync'ing, time machine etc at the click of a checkbox. Consider that CulturedCode are two years into coding mobile syncing for Things, which could have been provided as a switch-on feature in the SDK.

Steve should go have a chat with his friend Larry, who did a good job back in his day.

Many of the most important software concepts were invented in the 70s and forgotten in the 80s.

Our company will probably be upgrading to this today... we've been looking to replace the defunct Now Contact for quite sometime.

My only problem with it is proper database sharing. Works GREAT on the same network, but if I want to go home and work on the database, I'm forced to connect to a VPN and use ShareTool to broadcast Bonjour over it.

Good to see the labeling feature added. I'll probably give it a try now. I have used Macs since 1984 and the platform has always lagged on label making. Unless you want to use Office which I don't.

I'm not happy with what I've found for labels, and this doesn't fit my need. I'd like something where I design one label and it's repeated for the entire sheet. I don't need address labels or name tags where each label is different. Avery has a small program that does work, but it's very tedious. I think Pages would do the job pretty well if it knew what labels were.

Might be only my reading but it wasn't completely clear reading the article that the Instant Rebate and $29 is via a filemaker.com purchase. As I moved down the App Store path, I got no indication that it knew I had a previous version so I stopped and hit the filemaker online store where it clearly offers me the $29 price.

Might be only my reading but it wasn't completely clear reading the article that the Instant Rebate and $29 is via a filemaker.com purchase. As I moved down the App Store path, I got no indication that it knew I had a previous version so I stopped and hit the filemaker online store where it clearly offers me the $29 price.

Is it possible to buy an upgrade version for $29 via the MacAppStore?

If not: Will the MAS correctly recognize a 4.0 upgrade bought via filemaker.com for future incremental upgrades (4.0.1) which are usually free?

If not: Will the MAS correctly recognize a 4.0 upgrade bought via filemaker.com for future incremental upgrades (4.0.1) which are usually free?

I didn't complete the App Store transaction because it didn't look like it was aware that I had Bento installed or ask me for a code prior to my account being charged. Reckon it's a different package when downloading just the upgrade. As I recall, there was no upgrade discount moving from 2 to 3.

You could have a database of products laid out nicely, then export to HTML to create a web page, either with or without ecommerce links.

Or it might be a database of "places I've visited" that creates a web page.

The ecommerce part sounds like a 'Pro' feature and is almost certainly supported by FileMaker Pro. Bento is a personal database and isn't designed to be used this way... As for generating nice html pages, that does surprise me a little bit considering tools like Delicious Library can do this.

I haven't played with Bento much, but I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to export your data into another tool that could generate the html.

If not: Will the MAS correctly recognize a 4.0 upgrade bought via filemaker.com for future incremental upgrades (4.0.1) which are usually free?

I would think so... The App Store app does recognise that I have Aperture and the iWork application installed. None of them have been updated since the App Store went live so I don't know if updates will be delivered that way, but I would sure think so. The same should hold true for non-Apple apps.

...unless, of course, the App Store only took an inventory of my applications when it was first installed and now will not recognise subsequent application installs. I don't think this is the case however, because I installed Aperture on my new MacBook Pro and the App Store does recognise that it is installed.

...unless, of course, the App Store only took an inventory of my applications when it was first installed and now will not recognise subsequent application installs. I don't think this is the case however, because I installed Aperture on my new MacBook Pro and the App Store does recognise that it is installed.

AFAIK apps which are not installed via the MAS are tagged as "installed" solely to prevent double purchases (as long as they have the same version #).
You cannot update these apps via the MAS however!

You could have a database of products laid out nicely, then export to HTML to create a web page, either with or without ecommerce links.

Or it might be a database of "places I've visited" that creates a web page.

Exactly. As a record collector I want to be able to create a custom database and then be able export to the web. Record collectors like to show off what they've got lol It's nerdy but for someone who doesn't know or have the time to learn HTML, an app like this should be a given.

I don't know if I would even call it a database. Sure it has a similar interface which is extremely easy to use (because it's so rudimentary) but all you can do is basically fill out an excel spreadsheet with a neat interface. I know since Version 3 you can have a connected (1,n) sheet but that isn't really a database. I downloaded the trial version some months ago and was utterly disappointed.

Filemaker on the other hand is nicer, but kind of difficult to switch to when you are used to Access.

Personally, I'd like to see OSX gain a built-in database, that would allow many apps to share information in a secured way. This would also increase ownership of our data, since we'd only need a tool for reading the database, rather than being reliant on the favor and existence of good but small software companies such as CulturedCode and the Omni Group.

Anyone could do this. Apple doesn't have to provide it. Apple also provides Core Data libraries for developers.

Anyone could do this. Apple doesn't have to provide it. Apple also provides Core Data libraries for developers.

It freaks me out when apps load stuff like Openbase or Growl on my system (usually without telling me.)

It's far better for Apple to code the services and provide hooks to developers. I don't know how full-featured Core Data is for hard-core database use, but there must be a reason why no serious sales management apps (like ACT on the PC) exist on the Mac platform.

It freaks me out when apps load stuff like Openbase or Growl on my system (usually without telling me.)

It's far better for Apple to code the services and provide hooks to developers. I don't know how full-featured Core Data is for hard-core database use, but there must be a reason why no serious sales management apps (like ACT on the PC) exist on the Mac platform.

I don't think the Windows platform has a hard core database built in, applications would have to bring that in on their own.

Core Data supposedly abstracts SQLite.

But in terms of offering a means to access the same information from several different programs for ultimate data portability or program vendor independence, I don't know if that is realistic. For one, letting disparate programs access the same database can be a cause for problems. Another, It's not in the software vendor's interests to make it that easy to quit using their software. I've seen simpler software concepts go very wrong in terms of data portability, you need processing to convert from one type of code for another for very simple differences of number formatting.

.............Along with the release of Bento 4, Bento 1.1 has also been issued for the iPhone and iPad. Each.... has been updated with the ability to record voice memos and sync iCal tasks. ................
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Do the voice memos remain as audio files or are they "speech to text"?